Lawyers for Mr Quinn and IBRC, formerly Anglo Irish Bank, agreed that Mr Quinn should be allowed to go to Moscow to access the records as part of his bid to purge his contempt of court.

Initially a representative of IBRC was to accompany Mr Quinn but Counsel for the bank, Shane Murphy, told the court the bank was “happy for him to travel alone”.

Today, Ms Justice Elizabeth.Dunne agreed also to give Mr Quinn more time to arrange the sale of a house he shares with his wife Karen Woods as part of his bid to purge contempt.

The court was previously told Mr Quinn was prepared to sell the home he jointly owns with his wife at Alder Lodge, Farmleigh Woods, Castleknock, Dublin 15, and lodge the proceeds of the sale into court.

The couple cannot dispose of the property without the permission of the court as they are not free to dispose of any of their assets.

Ms Justice Dunne said two positive steps had been taken to deal with the matter. “I do see some signs of movement and that is helpful.”

The first was the arrangements being put in place in relation to the sale of the property and the second was Mr Quinn’s offer to go to Moscow to Ocean bank.

The cost of travelling to Moscow, she added, was a matter to be worked out between the two sides – lawyers for Mr Quinn and those for IBRC.

Last July, Ms Justice Dunne jailed Mr Quinn Jnr for three months for contempt of court after he failed to comply with court orders to reverse steps to put international assets out of the reach of IBRC.

His father, Sean Quinn Snr, is currently serving a three-month jail term for similar contempt of court issues

His cousin Peter Darragh Quinn was also jailed for three months, but that sentence has not been executed as the businessman left the jurisdiction.

Today Ms Justice Dunne agreed to put back the case until January 25 to allow time for arrangements in relation to the sale of the Castleknock house.